Who are we?
Be Someone's Santa (SCIO) provides Christmas gifts for specifically nominated children and young adults who are unlikely to receive anything at Christmas time. What began as a small collection by a Glasgow South Side mum five years ago, now delivers over 2,000 gifts each year.
In 2021 we were successful in being awarded charity status. Be Someone's Santa is run entirely by a small team of unpaid volunteers.
Who does our appeal help?
We support a number of organisations across Glasgow. Primarily we support Glasgow South Health and Social Care Partnership, these gifts go to some of Glasgow's most vulnerable and disadvantaged children, young people and families. In recent years, and thanks to the wonderful support we have received from our pledgers, we have also been able to extend our support to family support community projects, Social Work, and young care leaver services across East and North Glasgow too. Many of these children and families simply do not have the resources to offer a Christmas like many of us take for granted; indeed some have no family around them at all, or are living in homeless/temporary accommodation.
How does it work?
The recipients of our appeal are identified and nominated by the relevant social care team. Each child nominated is allocated to a registered pledger from our appeal who is provided with their age and gender - this helps ensure gift appropriateness, and means no child is left unaccounted for.
Why get involved?
Each year we have seen an increase in the number of families in need of our support and we are expecting this year to be especially challenging as a result of the rising cost of living many are facing.
Be Someone’s Santa is a truly wonderful initiative, which has brought so much joy in what is a very difficult time for these children. We hope you can support us in delivering smiles this Christmas morning to Glasgow’s most vulnerable children and young adults.
After all, every child deserves the gift of Christmas.